Growth of Tar Sands Across the Midwest

The Midwest and Great Lakes are quickly becoming the hub for transporting and refining one of the worlds dirtiest and most destructive fossil fuels on the planet: tar sands oil.

The Enbridge Pipeline Boom

Pipelines in the area are nothing new, but over the last several years the region’s infrastructure has seen a dramatic transformation: a Canadian company, Enbridge Incorporated, is undertaking a massive expansion of their system in the Great Lakes basin, also industry is working to link new and existing pipelines to reach the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, where they can sell to refiners on the international market.

If Enbridge is successful, not only would it cause pain at the pump for Midwestern drivers, but it would lay the groundwork for an explosion of new tar sands development in Canada, boosting carbon emissions and pushing our planet toward the brink of climate catastrophe. This increase in crude also exposes the already threatened Great Lakes to larger and more toxic pipeline spills. Plans are also being drawn up transport millions of gallons of tar sands oil via tanker and rail, an even riskier option than pipelines.

Map of Pipeline Expansion

Not Just a Climate Threat

In the summer of 2010 Enbridge was responsible for the largest and costliest inland oil spill in U.S. history, when a pipeline rupture sending over a million gallons of tar sands into the Kalamazoo River system poisoning people and wildlife for miles around. This disaster underscored the weakness of our state and federal safety regulations, but also showed how unprepared the industry is to respond to a toxic spill: almost three years later the river remains polluted despite Enbridge spending nearly $1 billion on the cleanup.

Watch this story about Beth Wallace, an NWF employee whose hometown was impacted by the spill, and whose life was changed forever:

The the disaster in the Kalamazoo River was of the largest tar sands oil spills ever in the Midwest, and one of many pipeline accidents in Michigan. Enbridge is responsible for hundreds of oil spills in the last decade.

National Wildlife Federation is working to stop tar sands expansion projects that will put our resources, communities and wildlife at risk, and we are also pushing for comprehensive pipeline safety reform, a process made harder by the huge gaps in oversight and accountability for the industry.

The health and future of the Great Lakes region, which provides drinking water to millions of people, is at grave risk from tar sands oil pipeline expansions. The report explains the incredibly high risk and direct threat involved for wildlife and people of the Great Lakes region if pipeline expansions continue.

The report warns of a pipeline hazard located at the Straits of Mackinac, where, submerged in the waters where the Lakes Michigan and Huron meet, more than 20 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas fluids are pumped every day through aging pipelines operated by Enbridge Energy--the Canadian company responsible for the worst inland oil disaster in U.S. history.

Enbridge's track record is covered in oil spills. They are the world's biggest transporter of Canadian tar sands oil, and responsible for the biggest inland spill in American history. Learn more about Enbridge's track record, their reckless expansion plans, and unseemly marketing tactics used to defuse criticism.

Nearly two years after one of the worst oil spills in Midwest history a new report asks the pressing question: "Do laws governing pipelines adequately protect the Great Lakes basin and its communities from oil pollution?"